Court Upholds Employee Terminations Following Strike
In NLRB v. Special Touch, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 4058 (2d Cir. Feb. 27, 2013), the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied a National Labor Relations Board petition for enforcement in a well-reasoned case that employers may view as a sign that someone is listening to their pleas for common sense in labor decisions. The facts are relatively straight-forward. Special Touch subcontracts with nursing and health-related services to provide home health aides. The patient population has either been ordered by a physician to receive home care, has an illness that prevents normal functioning and daily living activities, is homebound, or is receiving in-home health services. The SEIU provided a Section 8(g) notice to the employer of its intent to strike, as is its right. The employer, according to its rights, contacted the approximately 1400 aides scheduled to work to inquire whether they planned to take any time off during the time period provided by the union for the strike. Approximately 75 aides stated their intent to be absent. When the strike began, however, an additional 48 aides who had not previously stated they would be absent failed to appear for work. At the conclusion of the strike, the 75 who had informed the employer of their absence were reinstated; the other 48 were terminated.
Recently, in 
Marking the end of Chairman Wilma Liebman's term, the National Labor Relations Board issued three significant decisions at the end of August that overturn long-standing Board precedent. In what may be the most significant of the three, a decision involving the healthcare industry, the Board paved the way for the proliferation of bargaining units by overruling its 1991 decision in Park Manor Care Center, 305 NLRB 872 (1991), and determining that certified nursing assistants ("CNAs") comprise an appropriate stand-alone bargaining unit. Although it involved a nursing home, the Board's decision is not limited to the healthcare industry and fundamentally changes the standard for determining appropriate bargaining units applicable to all employers. Continue reading this article 
The National Labor Relations Board's recent expansive view of employee rights is not news. What is news is the current Board majority's willingness to hold employers liable for conduct that, on its face, does not infringe any rights protected by federal labor law. Some recent cases have raised the question whether an employer's lawful conduct can nevertheless establish that an unfair labor practice has occurred.
Employers who provide employee health insurance containing prescription drug benefits are paying closer attention to the costs associated with these benefits. In particular, employers are exploring ways to control costs by altering the plan’s drug formulary, the part of the plan that establishes what drugs are covered and sets different cost “tiers” for various brand-name drugs and their generic equivalents. Employers faced with increasing prescription drug costs often ask insurers for less costly alternatives. When the insurance plan applies to a union-represented workforce and is incorporated into a collective bargaining agreement, this can spell trouble.
As a result of the NLRB’s June 3, 2010 